KAMALAPATI’S GRANDSON RAJESH PATI JOINS TMC

KOLKATA: As the Trinamool Congress (TMC) launched its assembly election campaign in Goa on Monday afternoon, its plans to enter electoral politics in Uttar Pradesh got a boost when the central Indian state’s former chief minister Kamalapati Tripathi’s grandson Rajesh Pati Tripathi and the latter’s son, Lalitesh Pati Tripathi, joined Bengal’s ruling party in presence of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Elections in Goa and UP will be held next year.

Welcoming the two leaders in north Bengal’s Siliguri town, Banerjee said: “They resigned from the Congress before joining the TMC. When we decided to contest the Goa elections, people said we are a regional party. We all come from some region or the other but we are all Indians. TMC is a national party. There is no such Laxman Rekha (divine boundary) in politics. The Laxman Rekha should be applicable only for rioters.”

“We respect all small and regional parties. In whichever state we go, we will not impose our decisions on anyone. I know the character of India. Every state has its own culture. We will stand beside the people of that region. Akhilesh (Yadav) is like my younger brother. I am not against him. Our job is to raise issues. I waited for the Congress but sadly, they did not respond,” said Banerjee.

“I have visited UP several times, as member of Parliament and as Union minister. For the azaadi (independence) of UP, we have welcomed members of a family that contributed to India’s fight for Independence,” said Banerjee, referring to Kamalapati Tripathi, who was a freedom fighter before serving as Union minister and chief minister of UP. He died in 1990.

Rajesh Pati Tripathi, a former UP legislator and member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), said, “The distance between the Congress and its workers has widened in recent times. No goal should be difficult to achieve if we have a leader like Mamata Banerjee.”